DENVER, CO--Mullen High athlete, Leilon Willingham, left, signs as teamate, Conor McKenna looks over his shoulder on Letter of Intent Day at Mullen High School Thursday morning. Willingham signed on to attend Central Florida, McKenna will attend Adams State. Andy Cross, The Denver Post

The suspense of Leilon Willingham’s recruitment continued even after the Mullen High linebacker signed his letter of intent this morning.

Willingham, who was set to choose between his five finalists Wednesday morning before the school’s signing day ceremony was rescheduled because of poor weather, slyly covered the letterhead as he signed.

And there was more secrecy. Each of the 16 other Mullen athletes who were being honored this morning had placards that included their college choice. Willingham’s didn’t.

Finally, someone in the crowd gathered to watch the signing ceremony shouted, “Where are you headed, Lei?”

Willingham smiled, took an Orlando Magic hat out from under the table, and placed it on his head.

“I’m taking my talents to Orlando,” he said with a grin.

Orlando. Home to the University of Central Florida. Willingham picked the Knights over offers from at least 12 other schools, including finalists Colorado, Arizona State, Michigan and Washington.

Willingham finally ended the speculation and capped a crazy week that saw the spotlight fixed directly on the linebacker whom Rivals.com rates as a four-star prospect.

“I got calls from everybody,” Willingham said in Mullen’s gym after the ceremony. “All the coaches — every coach on every coaching staff. There was a lot of pressure coming from a lot of places, so I just turned my phone off and made the decision that I felt comfortable with and that was going to make me happy.”

He visited UCF with Mullen teammate Rayshon Williams last weekend. Williams, a wide receiver, committed on that visit and also signed with UCF this morning.

But Williams’ presence, Willingham said, really wasn’t a factor in his decision.

“That was just something that came along with it,” he said. “When I made my decision, I took football and Rayshon out of the picture. I took that coaching staff down there out of the picture. None of that’s guaranteed to be there. Ray’s not (guaranteed) to be there. The staff might not be there. I just thought about where I felt comfortable going to school for the next four to five years.”

Willingham, who plays outside linebacker, finished with a team-leading 156 tackles last season, as well as five sacks, three fumble recoveries and an interception. He is the second-ranked prospect in The Post’s recruiting rankings for 2011. Chaparral offensive lineman Brendon Austin, the Post’s top-ranked in-state player, is going to Stanford.

“I saw him on film and he is a very impressive player on film but even more impressive when you get a chance to sit down and visit with him,” UCF coach George O’Leary said this morning. “We’re very fortunate to acquire his talent.”

Willingham had committed to Texas A&M in December, but then rescinded that commitment late last month. He never took his official visit there, canceling the trip after he decommitted.

He did visit each of his finalists, including a trip to CU after the Buffs hired Jon Embree.

“I was feeling like things might be able to work out (at CU), but then I thought that I needed to get out of Colorado,” Willingham said.

Mullen AD Tony Schenbeck said Willingham committed to each school after each of his official visits. When it came to signing, though, “I just felt most comfortable at UCF,” Willingham said.

O’Leary said that he first heard about Williams through former Broncos wide reciever Brandon Marshall, who is Williams’ legal guardian and a UCF graduate. Marshall is now with the Miami Dolphins.

“I’m very happy to have him in the program and I think that he will be a very productive player in our offensive scheme,” O’Leary said.